All vaccines, including the Chinese ones from "Sinovak" and "Sinofarm", protect the citizens from a serious clinical picture as a consequence of covid-19 and from death, says for Free Press the director of the Institute of Immunology, Dr. Aleksandar Petlichkovski. There is public skepticism about the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, due to data coming from Brazil, which has shown that the Sinovak vaccine is only 500 percent effective. However, data from Turkey show that the Sinovak vaccine, which has not yet arrived in the country and is expected to arrive in 80 doses, is over 200 percent. At six vaccination points in the gyms in Skopje, Kumanovo, Bitola, Kavadarci, Ohrid, Tetovo and Stip, the vaccination started with XNUMX thousand doses from the Chinese manufacturer "Sinofarm".

- Efficacy comparisons are general comparisons and the percentages that indicate vaccine efficacy are comparable for all vaccines. We already have enough data for "Sinofarm" that it is a vaccine with an efficiency of over 80 percent. There is not much data about "Sinovak". From the data available for "Sinovak", obtained from clinical studies in Brazil and Turkey, the data are not identical. The data from Brazil are that the efficiency of Sinovak is around 50 percent, and the data from Turkey are that the efficiency of "Sinovak" is over 80 percent. There is a lack of verified and transparent information about Sinovak and therefore there is little mistrust among the population. In China, the Sinovak vaccine is the most widely used, followed by Sinofarm. The results of using these two vaccines in China are excellent. They have not reported new cases in months. Not all vaccines are the same. Some make antibodies faster, some later. Some vaccine antibodies last longer, some shorter, and those variations exist. But the bottom line is that all vaccines, both Chinese and English and American, all vaccines protect against the serious course of the disease and especially protect against death, said Dr. Petlichkovski for Sloboden Pecat.

Regarding the Sinofarm vaccine, which is currently being applied in the country and with which the mass immunization started, Petlichkovski says that the citizens should know that it takes nine weeks from the first dose until the complete immunity is created.

- For the Sinofarm vaccine that we received in 200 thousand doses, in general it should be known that it is a dead vaccine and it creates immunity a little longer than the American vaccines and citizens should be careful between the two doses and a few weeks after the second dose. . The complete immunity that develops in Sinofarm vaccine is achieved 6 weeks after the second dose. It is quite a long period, ie 9 weeks from the beginning of vaccination to achieve maximum effectiveness. No serious side effects have been reported for this vaccine, he says.

The Minister of Health Venko Filipce says that the response for vaccination should be higher. In one day, out of a total of 9 thousand citizens who received an appointment, half did not show up at the checkpoint, and why this is happening will be detected further. Many complained that although they registered on the site vaccination.mk, they got an appointment in a very remote place in another city, so they did not go to receive the vaccine. These citizens, according to the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, the next day or two days later, should go to the vaccination point closest to them, show the message on the mobile phone from the previous day and will be vaccinated immediately. For now, there will be no choice of the citizens with which vaccine to be immunized